Reminiscence
by Reichee
Summary: While in the orphanage, Mokuba thinks back on the last time he and Seto saw their father. Fluffy. Oneshot.


(A/N: Woohoo! My first Yu-Gi-Oh! ficcy! I actually wrote this a while ago, but since I only got my account to open a few days ago… Anyway, It's a Seto and Mokuba fluff, and I know that there's SO many of them out there already, but you can read it anyway!)

Warnings: Fluffy. That's about it.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Not one. Really, really, really wish I did, though.

**Reminiscence**

The final rays of the afternoon sun poured generously into the modest living room where two boys were sitting on the floor, glancing through an old photo album. The younger boy, about three years in age, carefully scanned each photograph with his large dark eyes, stopping every so often to inquire upon whom it was they were looking at from his eight-year-old brother.

"And who's this?" the raven-haired boy asked, pointing to a picture of a tall man in a black suit.

The older boy looked over at the photo, a few wisps of brown hair falling in front of his blue eyes as he bent to take a closer look. "Oh, come on, Moki, you know that's Dad," he replied quickly.

"What are you boys doing?" asked a voice from the doorway as said father entered the room.

"Nothin', Dad," replied the older boy, "Just looking at some pictures."

The man smiled warmly. "Well, Seto, why didn't you say so?" he asked as he took a seat between his two sons. "I love looking through the old albums."

As the three looked through the album, Mokuba kept seeing the same woman in many of the pictures. She was a beautiful woman, tall and slender, with lovely long hair that was the same black color as his own. Finally, he decided to ask about her.

"Is this Mommy?" he asked rather suddenly, laying his small finger on top of one of her photographs.

Their father let out a quick sigh before answering. "Yep. That's your mother," he replied simply, not showing any interest in continuing on the topic. However, Mokuba was too young to pick up on this and decided to press further.

"Where is she?"

There was a brief pause as their father contemplated an answer that would be appropriate for the three-year-old. "Um... she... well, she was taken up to heaven," he finally answered, hoping this would be enough. But of course, the quizzical mind of a child was not so easily satisfied.

"Why?"

"There's no real reason," he answered. "We need to go when it's our time to go."

"Well, is she coming back?"

Silence filled the room. Their father looked down and Seto bit his lower lip.

"I'm sorry, Mokuba." was what finally broke the silence. "but when you go to heaven, you have to stay there. But your mother didn't leave you. She would have stayed if she could have. It just wasn't her choice."

"I really miss her," Seto said softly as he gently pressed his fingers against one of her pictures.

"I do too," their father said. But before any more could be said on the subject, he scooped up the album and closed it, ending the conversation as well. "You know, looking through all these pictures has made me hungry. How about I go and pick us up some dinner?"

The sudden offer of food was quick to raise the spirits of both boys. "Yeah!" they exclaimed in unison, bright smiles beaming on their faces.

"Okay, boys. Dinner it is. I'll be back in a little while."

"I wanna come with!" Mokuba begged, grabbing on to his father's shirt sleeve.

"Yeah, me too!" Seto chimed in, not wanting to be left out.

"Well, I'd take you," their father started, "but you two still have to clean your room."

The two boys both groaned.

"Don't worry, boys. I'll be back soon."

And with that, he was gone.

That was the very last time either Seto or Mokuba had ever seen their father. Mokuba remembered every detail of that day so clearly, even though it had been two whole years ago. But the memory refused to fade. Sometimes, during the eerily silent nights when Mokuba couldn't fall asleep, his mind would recall that day, and it would play continuously over and over again, torturing the poor child with a horrible reminiscence about the painful past he could not change.

But of everything that had happened in the past two years, that day was the only thing to stay so clear, while mostly everything else had blurred together. He remembered being brought to live with some relatives, ones who cared not about Mokuba or Seto, but for the inheritance they brought with them. After two years, all of the money was completely depleted, and with no use for either of the children, they were brought to live at a small orphanage.

Mokuba had been terrified that day, clinging to his brother's hand as if they were about to be separated. They had no friends at the orphanage, and certainly no family. The only family they had left had just abandoned them. Now, Seto was the only person Mokuba had left. And the only one he trusted.

Lately, the one fear that had been on the child's mind was the idea of them getting separated. Mokuba knew that his brother was very intelligent, though he didn't quite know that he was a genius. They had been at the orphanage for only a short time, and there were already many people coming by that wanted to adopt Seto. Many wanted to be the proud parents of a gifted child.

But Seto had always allowed Mokuba to tightly grip his hand as he told the adults that he would only be adopted if Mokuba was coming along with him. Every time the person had scoffed and moved on to another child. Then Mokuba would cry, knowing that he had just blown another chance for his brother to be adopted. Seto never seemed to mind, though.

A small tear slid down Mokuba's cheek and fell silently on the pillow where his head was resting. He slowly opened his eyes and through blurred vision saw his brother sleeping only a few feet away on his own mattress in the sleeping quarters of the orphanage. He looked like he was fast asleep, but Mokuba needed his brother right now.

Mokuba slowly slid off his mattress, trying to be as quiet as possible so he wouldn't wake any of the other children. Crawling over to where Seto was sleeping, Mokuba reached out and gently shook his brother on the shoulder.

Seto let out a low groan and then turned over, leaving his back to Mokuba.

"Seto," Mokuba called softly, another tear running down his face. "Please, Seto, wake up"

Seto instantly responded to the sound of Mokuba's desperate cry and shot up in bed. "What is it, Moki?" he whispered, his voice filled with concern. "What's wrong?"

"I can't sleep. And I miss Mom and Dad," he confessed, unable to control his tears now as they welled up in his eyes and spilled over his cheeks.

"It's okay, Moki. I miss them too," Seto said as he pulled away his blanket and let Mokuba climb onto the mattress next to him. "Don't worry, it'll be okay."

"But Dad said he would be right back," Mokuba cried softly. "He promised."

"I know," Seto said, pulling his brother close to him and letting Mokuba bury his face in his chest, not caring that his nightshirt was being soaked with tears.

Mokuba wrapped his arms around his brother and cried harder. "It's not fair," he mumbled. "I hate it here and no one is ever gonna adopt me because I'm not smart."

"That's not true, Moki. You're plenty smart. And we'll get adopted someday. The right family just hasn't come along yet."

"Really?" Mokuba asked with a tiny sniffle.

"Sure," Seto said as he wiped away a few tears from his brother's eyes. "And then it'll all be better. We'll finally have a family again."

"Promise?"

"I promise," Seto assured him, giving him one more hug. "Now go to bed, Moki. We both need to get some sleep."

"Okay." Mokuba began to walk back to his mattress, but stopped short a few feet away.

"Seto?"

"Yeah?" Seto answered, the covers already pulled around his shoulders.

"Can I... sleep in your bed tonight?" Mokuba asked softly, his gaze shifted towards the floor.

Seto smiled warmly at his little brother and pulled the covers back again. "Sure thing, kiddo," he replied. "Hop in."

Mokuba smiled back and quickly crawled back onto the mattress next to his brother. He was so glad to have Seto as his big brother, someone who would always look out for him and keep him safe. He trusted everything that Seto said. And even though Mokuba wasn't sure what the future would bring, he knew that with Seto by his side, everything would always be alright.

(A/N: That's it. So, what'd ya think? Good? Bad? I don't really know, since I'm not exactly a very good critic of my writing. So r + r people! I really appreciate your comments.)


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